ILPPO POHJOLA "ASPHALTO"
- AN ARIA FOR 13 DEMOLITION CARS + GAS STATIONS, 1998 (41'18)
35mm

A conceptual narrative with documentary material. An Urban aria about cars, girls, and gas stations. Asphalto deconstructs the classical film narrative techniques while describing, by means of demolition and deconstruction, the difficulty of communication, encounter, and relationship.

HELI REKULA " PILGRIMAGE"
35mm (1998; 9 min; S-16/35mm; 1:1.66)

FANTASY OF DEVOTION, the prologue of PILGRIMAGE shows a young woman caressed, teased and physically manipulated by hands of another person. The young woman is literally devoting herself, giving herself up into another persons hands. The prologue is suggesting that the search of devotion and the holy experience can be similar to emotions and experiences between human actions and relations; love, sexuality, etc. The hands are doing their own search, wandering over the landscape of the young woman's face.

PILGRIMAGE, the drama, shows a woman walking on her knees, walking her eternal pilgrimage inside an empty estate. Here three generations of women meet; the adult woman as a pilgrim, a young woman as an eyewitness for her, and a young girl present by her voice. The young woman, with an aura of sainthood, can also be seen as an icon. The white rabbit is a symbol of fertility and sexuality, most often seen in Renaissance paintings lying on a ground, by the feet of Virgin Mary.